Friday

Bathtub Wood Panel Cover

You know I love moldings. I also love the look of panels, that's why I decided to give a plain bathtub a dressed up treatment.

For many years this is what I have seen every day (picture below), this is my kids bath, but my bathroom is nothing different.

boring :(

That's why I set to work at building my own wood panel cover for the bathtub.The way I wanted to build it required the use of a router, and guess what...

I bought one :)

First time using it. At the beginning I was a bit scare, but for nothing. it was soooo easy to use!I just clamped the pieces of wood to the table.... no measuring......no aligning..... just holding the machine with both hands ... and ... there I went!!! Well the first two inches didn't look that pretty but after that ... perfection! :)

This is the tip I used:

Here you can see the proof.

After routing the long pieces, they were cut to the dimensions I needed.

Now, this is a kind of project were a Kreg Jig is fundamental to put it together.

Here I'm opening or drilling the holes where later on I'm going to be driving the screws.

With the two pieces of wood clamped together I drove the special screws to tied them together.

After putting together all those pieces, it was now time to nail the 1/4" plywood panels on the back.

The rabbeted pieces kept the plywood panels in place and flush with the rest of the boards.

To finish up the panels a small molding was added around each one of them, this is the profile of the one I used:

A coat of primer was applied and then all the gaps were filled. Sanding and cleaning pretty well afterwards.

I took off that piece of plastic molding or strip? (I don't even know what's the name for that ugly thing at the bottom of the tub), cleaned the area pretty well, and began applying the Liquid Nails.

The adhesive caulk was then applied to seal the seams all around the panel.

and ta da!! here is the new bathtub!

I really like it! It dresses up the bathroom a lot more!06-08-14 Update:After two years of regular use, the wooden cover is still holding strong. It hasn't even been re-caulked, though I should do it pretty soon, especially the top seam, just to be safe.

Girl, you are totally a rock star! I am super impressed with your carpentry skills and now just need you to come on over to my house and do this! :-) Thanks for sharing this at Inspiration Friday!Vanessa

First of all, I would have never thought to do that in a "guest" bath...I've only seen it done in master bathrooms but let me say WOW!!!! That looks so, so good! Holy smokes, I am just really impressed. That bathroom is on a whole new level now.

Thank you so much every one! The answer to how does it stand up to water/moisture is: Great! This is the bath my kids use, my daughter loves to use the tub to take her baths while my son prefers only showers. Now, they are "grown" kids 10 and 15, that most of the time, keep the water where it is supposed to be, inside the tub. Sometimes water comes out while showering, but it hasn't been an issue at all! I have done nothing to it since I installed it and paint, caulking, liquid nails, and of course wood are still in perfect condition.Caulking is fundamental to prevent water from seeping through the gaps.

I think you can get router "tables" or "jigs" to hold the router while you move the project wood or laminate or Corian stuff around. This might make it easier for some to get into using the router who might be a bit put off by holding it and trying to see where everything is going.

I don't think any of this stuff is too spendy and you can always see if your local rental place has them before you buy one or ask friends and neighbors--also Craigs List.

Great bath and just wish my 1977 "textured finish" read--weird odd molded plastic finish that grabs soap and dirt out of the air and never lets it go---tub n shower surround was "worth" doing this too--cause it looks gawgeeeous!!!!!

And why oh why do we HAVE to resort to "aftermarket" tub bottle and soap holders? Even in high end bathrooms there NEVER seems to be the RIGHT places to actually put a shampoo bottle; conditioner; washclothes; shave foam; razors; soap or body wash---do these people think we survive on those One A Day bars n micro bottles from hotels???? And what about showers like mine that cannot HOLD a suction cup add-on?????

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Cristina, first of all I want to let you know that I love everything you have shared with us, it is inspiring. I am in the process of remodeling my guest bathroom and would like to put paneling in the tub, I was thinking of bead board but I don't know if I should get a special kind that it is moisture resistant? Thanks

Thanks Pilar! In a bathroom is always better to work with moisture resistant materials. I think there is a moisture resistant bead board, but I haven't worked with that. For the trim always use solid wood instead of mdf or fiber board and prime everything pretty well.